Italy

Italy

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Repubblica Italiana/Italian Republic Area 301,300 sq km/116,331 sq mi Capital Rome Language Italian (official), German and Ladin (in the north), French (in the Valle d'Aosta region), Greek and Albanian (in the south) Religion Roman Catholic 98% Time difference GMT +1 Major holidays 1, 6 January, 25 April, 1 May, 14 August (mid-August holiday, 2 days), 1 November, 8, 25–26 December; variable: Easter Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Bologna, Florence Major ports Naples, Genoa, Palermo, Bari, Catania, Trieste Physical features mountainous (Maritime Alps, Dolomites, Apennines) with narrow coastal lowlands; continental Europe's only active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli; rivers Po, Adige, Arno, Tiber, Rubicon; islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Elba, Capri, Ischia, Lipari, Pantelleria; lakes Como, Maggiore, Garda Airports 11 principal international airports and over 120 smaller airports; total passengers carried: 34.95 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 16,200 km/10,066 mi; total passenger journeys: 497.9 million (2003) Roads total road network: 479,688 km/298,064 mi, of which 100% paved (2000 est); passenger cars: 541.7 per 1,000 people (1999 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Carlo Azeglio Ciampi from 1999 Head of government Romano Prodi from 2006 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 103 provinces within 20 regions (of which five have a greater degree of autonomy) Political parties Forza Italia (Go Italy!), free market, right of centre; Northern League (LN), Milan-based, federalist, right of centre; National Alliance (AN), neofascist; Italian Popular Party (PPI), Catholic, centrist; Italian Renewal Party, centrist; Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), Pro-European, moderate left wing (ex-communist); Italian Socialist Party (PSI), moderate socialist; Italian Republican Party (PRI), social democratic, left of centre; Democratic Alliance (AD), moderate left of centre; Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), Christian, centrist; Olive Tree alliance, left of centre; Panella List, radical liberal; Union of the Democratic Centre (UDC), right of centre; Pact for Italy, reformist; Communist Refoundation (RC), Marxist; Verdi, environmentalist; La Rete (the Network), anti-Mafia Death penalty abolished in 1994 Armed forces 191,200; plus 56,500 reservists and paramilitary forces of 254,000 (2006 est) Conscription up to ten months Defence spend (% GDP) 1.8 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.7 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 6.3 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency euro (lira until 2002) GDP (US$) 1,723 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 1.5 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 1,724.9 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 28,840 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.4% (2006 est) Unemployment 7.6% (2006 est) Labour force 4.2% agriculture, 30.7% industry, 65.1% services (2005) Major trading partners Germany, France, USA, the Netherlands, UK, Spain, EU25 Resources lignite, lead, zinc, mercury, potash, sulphur, fluorspar, bauxite, marble, petroleum, natural gas, fish Industries machinery and machine tools, textiles, leather, footwear, food and beverages, steel, motor vehicles, chemical products, wine, tourism Exports mechanical and electrical machinery, transport equipment, textiles, clothing and leather goods, wine (leading producer and exporter), metals and metal products, chemicals, food, beverages, tobacco goods. Principal market: Germany 13.6% (2005) Imports mineral fuels and lubricants, machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, foodstuffs, metal products. Principal source: Germany 18% (2005) Arable land 26.4% (2006 est) Agricultural products sugar beet, grapes, wheat, maize, tomatoes, olives, citrus fruits, vegetables; fishing


POPULATION

Population 58,139,600 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.0% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 193 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 68 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 14%, 15–59 60%, 60+ 26% (2005 est) Ethnic groups mainly Italian; some minorities of German origin Life expectancy 78 (men); 84 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 5 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 99% (men); 98% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 60.6 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 4.1 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.5 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 3,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 100 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 43.1 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 124.3 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 880 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 590 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 31.1 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 48 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

4th and 3rd centuries BC Italian peninsula united under Roman rule. AD 476 End of Western Roman Empire. 568 Invaded by Lombards. 756 Papal States created in central Italy. 800 Charlemagne united Italy and Germany in Holy Roman Empire. 12th and 13th centuries Papacy and Holy Roman Empire contended for political supremacy; papal power reached its peak under Innocent III (1198–1216). 1183 Cities of Lombard League (founded in 1164) became independent. 14th century Beginnings of Renaissance in northern Italy. 15th century Most of Italy ruled by five rival states: the city-states of Milan, Florence, and Venice; the Papal States; and the Kingdom of Naples. 1494 Charles VIII of France invaded Italy. 1529–59 Spanish Habsburgs secured dominance in Italy. 17th century Italy effectively part of Spanish Empire; economic and cultural decline. 1713 Treaty of Utrecht gave political control of most of Italy to Austrian Habsburgs. 1796–1814 France conquered Italy, setting up satellite states and introducing principles of French Revolution. 1815 Old regimes largely restored; Italy divided between Austria, Papal States, Naples, Sardinia, and four duchies. 1831 Giuseppe Mazzini founded ‘Young Italy’ movement with aim of creating unified republic. 1848–49 Liberal revolutions occurred throughout Italy; reversed everywhere except Sardinia, which became centre of nationalism under leadership of Count Camillo di Cavour. 1859 France and Sardinia forcibly expelled Austrians from Lombardy. 1860 Sardinia annexed duchies and Papal States (except Rome); Giuseppe Garibaldi overthrew Neapolitan monarchy. 1861 Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia proclaimed King of Italy in Turin. 1866 Italy gained Venetia after defeat of Austria by Prussia. 1870 Italian forces occupied Rome in defiance of Pope, completing unification of Italy. 1882 Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary in Triple Alliance. 1896 Attempt to conquer Ethiopia defeated at Battle of Adowa. 1900 King Umberto I assassinated by an anarchist. 1912 Annexation of Libya and Dodecanese after Italo-Turkish War. 1915 Italy entered World War I on side of Allies. 1919 Peace treaties awarded Trentino, South Tyrol, and Trieste to Italy. 1922 Mussolini established fascist dictatorship following period of strikes and agrarian revolts. 1935–36 Conquest of Ethiopia. 1939 Invasion of Albania. 1940 Italy entered World War II as ally of Germany. 1943 Allies invaded southern Italy; Mussolini removed from power; Germans occupied northern and central Italy. 1945 Allies completed liberation. 1946 Monarchy replaced by republic. 1947 Peace treaty stripped Italy of its colonies. 1948 New constitution adopted; Christian Democrats emerged as main party in political system marked by ongoing instability and frequent changes of government. 1957 Founding member of European Community. 1978 Christian Democrat Aldo Moro murdered by Red Brigade guerrillas. 1983–87 Bettino Craxi became Italy's first Socialist prime minister. 1993 Political crisis triggered by exposure of government corruption and links to organized crime. 2001 Industrialist Silvio Berlusconi, who was briefly premier in 1994 until forced to resign after indictment for tax fraud, elected prime minister for second time at head of centre-right coalition. 2002 Euro replaced lira as currency. 2004 Berlusconi cleared of corruption in trial. 2006 Narrow parliamentary election victory for centre-left alliance under Romano Prodi (a former European Commission president); Prodi replaced Berlusconi as prime minister; former communist Giorgio Napolitano elected president.


© RM 2012. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.